Two years after Dany Bahar’s grandiose six-vehicle launch at the 2010 Paris auto show, the struggling sports-car maker won’t even have a stand at this year’s event. Lotus has pulled out of the show, we’ve learned from two independent sources. In a recent phone conversation, a company spokesman would not deny what was then a rumor but has now been confirmed by the show’s organizers.

Lotus’s no-show is not necessarily bad news. It recently put on a truly impressive display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, complete with historic and modern cars, proving it is alive and kicking. But the company’s strategy is under review after former CEO Dany Bahar’s sudden departure. The controversial former Red Bull and Ferrari executive had not only tried to take Lotus deep into Ferrari territory, he also hired rapper Swizz Beatz as a design consultant and teamed up with the tuner Mansory, the offerings of which are as extravagant as they are lacking in taste. It is alleged that breathtaking expenditures for Bahar’s lavish corporate lifestyle ultimately led to his exit.

We think that Lotus will do well to recapture its essence with lightweight and original sports cars, not with ultra-expensive supercars. It also needs to get its U.S.-market strategy on track. It won’t be in Paris, but we are confident in seeing a reborn Lotus at the upcoming auto shows—a reborn Lotus built on its history of engineering that was on display at Goodwood and not the smoke and mirrors of Paris two years ago.